Zamfara: Violent route to 2011
The political rivalry between the two started in December 2008, with a litigation when the ANPP in the state filed a suit in a Gusau Federal High Court asking the governor to vacate his seat having defected from the ANPP on which platform he was elected governor. After listening to the arguments of counsel for […]
The political rivalry between the two started in December 2008, with a litigation when the ANPP in the state filed a suit in a Gusau Federal High Court asking the governor to vacate his seat having defected from the ANPP on which platform he was elected governor.
After listening to the arguments of counsel for both parties, Justice Adamu Bello entered judgment in favour of the PDP. The judge, however, made a statement in the judgment which hit front pages of some national newspapers, saying, “the governor’s defection from the party in which he was elected was constitutional, but democratically immoral”. The ANPP, not satisfied with the judgment, appealed against it, and according to its counsel Barrister, Mohammed Katu, the appeal is still pending. A similar suit was also filed by the ANPP against members of the state House of Assembly who followed suit in decamping to the PDP.
While all the tension raised by these litigations were gradually subsiding, the attention of the two opposing parties seemed to be focused on the 2011 general elections, seeing that time is drawing near. All the while, there were spirited efforts to reconcile Yarima and Shinkafi that failed. Observers believe that all attempts to reconcile them were botched by their close political allies who invariably were doing so to protect their personal interests. To further ensure that all reconciliatory avenues were blocked, they engaged in verbal wars in the media to make things look like there was no need for harmony.
Recently, Senator Yarima embarked on a local government tour to inaugurate the ANPP executive members with the intention to round it up in Gusau local government area last Monday. On that fateful day, nobody knew that there would be trouble of the magnitude that happened, albeit there were inflammatory statements uttered by both party leaders prior to the Monday showdown. While leaders and supporters of the PDP were against the rally and they were all out to stop it, Yarima and his supporters were hell bent on conducting it. When the hour came, there was a face-to-face confrontation, both sides armed to the teeth with assorted locally made weapons and in the clash that ensued, there were deaths. Three people died and several others were severely injured while six vehicles were burnt. Despite the fracas and a ceaseless downpour that lasted throughout that day, Senator Yarima remained dogged. He went to the Gusau airstrip and conducted the inauguration.
The question that remained on the lips of all observers was why were the PDP supporters against the ANPP rally in Gusau? Alhaji Musa Zubairu, the PDP strongman and state secretary who provided his own perspective, said, “We opposed Yarima`s rally in Gusau because a few days before he made several announcements in the media that Gusau rally will be the mother of all rallies and invited everybody from every nook and cranny of Zamfara to Gusau because on that day he would send Governor Shinkafi packing from Government House. The security organs invited him, cautioned him and asked him to denounce his earlier statement. The rally which was slated for Sunday, August 8, was rescheduled for Monday, the following day. The security agencies were alerted and they got him to assure that there would be no violence. They played the tape recorded at the meeting to him and he wrote a statement at the police headquarters that he was going to maintain law and order. But by the way he entered Gusau, you would know that there would be problem. He and his supporters came into Gusau with all sorts of weapons. The people he invited were sharpening swords on the coal tar on the streets of Gusau.something we did not anticipate, and the security agencies assured us that nobody was going to be harmed, nobody will be molested and we should be rest assured that Yarima was coming to play his game peacefully and leave the state but it turned out wrong. But people were killed, many vehicles were burnt, party offices and bill boards were destroyed. And when the incident happened, I personally told the police that they had failed because they had assured us that Yarima was coming to Gusau with peace. The route they told Yarima to pass through he abandoned and said nobody will stop him. So, definitely, the police should check themselves. When it was realized that the police are no longer ready to protect PDP properties, the youths were mobilized to protect them especially the party headquarters. So people were mobilized when they saw Yarima had abandoned his permitted route. He was coming to molest the PDP office and possibly even the Government House, so there was impromptu arrangement and they took over to defend their office. That was what happened.”
However, the state Publicity Secretary of the ANPP, Alhaji Ibrahim Birnin Magaji, gave a different account, “Two days to the event, it was glaring to everybody in Gusau town that Yan Tauri were hired and camped in various PDP offices in the state. They came with all types of local weapons and PDP uniforms were given to them for easy identification. All these were in preparations to attack us and stop the Gusau inauguration of our party exco. Don’t forget they had earlier burnt our party office along Market Road. We alerted the police in writing and we were given assurance of adequate security but the PDP members would not want people to see the massive support we have. They went all out to ensure that the gathering was botched. In the fracas which was led by the state PDP chairman, secretary and other chieftains, they burnt and smashed over 10 of our vehicles and wounded about eight persons. Some of the wounded are now receiving treatment at Farida General Hospital, Gusau. What manner of leadership is this? If the PDP government of Zamfara can resort to using armed thugs to attack unarmed innocent people, i.e ANPP supporters who were doing a legal exercise, then only God knows its plans for 2011. And to say that Yarima was coming to Gusau to send the sitting governor packing is an illogical submission fuelled by political naivety. Before now, they had described Senator Yarima as a loner and we used to warn them that whenever the political lion roars, their government of bill boards, by the bill boards and for the bill boards will be in quandary.
“Senator Yarima and the ANPP did their Monday, August 9 rally within the parameters of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are therefore, pleading with Mr. President who is the national leader of the PDP, to please call these new entrants to order so that his quest for a free and fair election in 2011 will not be a ruse.”
While reacting to the incident, the state commissioner of police Abubakar Mohammed, explained that 54 persons were arrested in connection with the crisis. He also announced the ban on the Yan Tauri group who were used in the bloody feud, adding that anybody found sponsoring them will be arrested and prosecuted. Commenting on the accusation of security lapses on the part of the police, the commissioner said, “If a political party is constitutionally allowed to hold a rally and another political party ‘says no, you can’t,’ what would happen? I allow you to be the judge.”
Shortly after the incident, the state Governor, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, spoke to newsmen, indicating that Senator Yarima will be held responsible for the fracas and will be charged to court. He alleged that there was available evidence to show that the whole trouble was caused by Yarima.
But the ANPP publicity secretary, Birnin Magaji, was quick to respond: “It was just a ploy by the governor to cover his weaknesses. They left the state to sycophants who believe that it is only through coercing people that the opposition can be tamed”.
‘So, what happened was not